LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings insist they're not as
bad as they started this season. How they played against the
Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night reinforced that.
Anze Kopitar scored a short-handed goal in the third period, and
the Kings connected on all three shots in the shootout to beat
Minnesota 4-3, the Wild's first loss of the season.
"We followed through on our game plan for the entire 65
minutes," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "We limited the top
team in the league to very few chances. We forced them to take a
lot of penalties, and that's very uncharacteristic of a Minnesota
Wild team."
Scott Thornton and Kyle Calder also scored for the Kings, who
had lost five straight after beating defending Stanley Cup champion
Anaheim in London in the season opener. Dustin Brown and Michael
Cammalleri also scored in the shootout against Nicklas Backstrokm.
"We really needed that game, and to do it against them is
awesome because we knew how well they've been playing," Cammalleri
said. "You're always dangerous when you're desperate."
Pavol Demitra, Mikko Koivu and Brian Rolston scored for the
Wild, who remain the only team in the league that hasn't lost in
regulation. Their only goal in the shootout was by Petteri
Nummelin.
"We took a lot of penalties, a lot of questionable calls, but
we battled and we deserved the point that we got tonight,"
Minnesota center Eric Belanger said.
Jean-Sebastien Aubin, who began the season on injured reserve
because of a groin injury, made 28 saves in his 200th NHL game and
first with the Kings. Rookie Jonathan Bernier, who was in net for
the Kings' opening-night victory, was returned to his junior team
in Lewiston, Maine on Monday after allowing 15 goals over his last
three starts.
"I didn't feel too much pressure. I just wanted to play a good
first game because first impressions are always a big thing," said
the 30-year-old Aubin, who also played for Pittsburgh and Toronto
since making his NHL debut in 1988-89. "I've got to get used to
everything we do, and I'm going to learn more and more about these
guys and be even more comfortable."
The Kings grabbed a 3-2 lead with 13:34 left in the third on
Kopitar's third career short-handed goal. Kopitar knocked the puck
off Demitra's stick about 10 feet inside the Kings' blue line,
carried it into the Wild zone and beat Backstrom with a wrist shot
from the left circle.
Rolston tied it with exactly 12 minutes left in regulation,
beating Aubin to the stick side with a slap shot from the top of
the right circle.
Koivu put Minnesota ahead 2-1 just 43 seconds into the second
period, beating Aubin to the stick side from the low slot after
Rolston took the puck away from Kings center Patrick O'Sullivan
behind the net. But Calder tied it at 7:42 of the second on a
tip-in of Brad Stuart's one-timer from 45 feet on the power play.
"Discipline was something that wasn't there tonight," Rolston
said.
Minnesota did not get a shot on net until Demitra converted a
rebound of Marian Gaborik's 40-foot slap shot at 7:25 of the first
period.
Referee Stephane Auger had his arm raised to call a delayed
penalty against the Wild when Thornton tied the score for the
Kings, 30 seconds after Minnesota finished killing off a
four-minute penalty.
"We seemed really desperate on the ice," Kopitar said. "We
were grinding and really buying into the system. We executed the
game plan real well and didn't give up a whole bunch of chances,
and the ones we had we put in the net."
Game notes
It was the eighth overtime in the last 13 meetings between
the teams. ... Minnesota RW Mark Parrish played in his 600th NHL
game. His mother Barb was one of 17 players' moms who were guests
of the Wild during the team's three-game western swing. So was
Tuire Koivu, and Camilla Backstrom, who came from Finland. ...
Aubin, who signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent in
August, made 16 saves in the second period after facing only four
shots in the first. ... Minnesota was 0-for-3 on the power play,
making them 1-for-22 altogether. ... The Kings came in with a
league-worst 4.60 goals-against average.